German auto giant Volkswagen (VW), mired in a massive emissions cheating scandal, said Monday that it has found technical solutions for more than 90 percent of the vehicles affected in Europe.
The recall process is now viable “technically, financially and in terms of manpower. This is good news,” chief executive Matthias Mueller said.
“For over 90 percent of the Europe group’s vehicles, solutions are now confirmed,” he told around 1,000 VW executives at the company’s headquarters in Wolfsburg..
The automaker has admitted to fitting 11 million diesel engines worldwide with sophisticated software fitted to skew the results of tests for nitrogen oxide emissions.
That admission has triggered both regulatory and criminal investigations in several countries, including Germany and the US.
Volkswagen has subsequently revealed that beyond the nitrogen oxide scam, it had also understated carbon dioxide emissions of 800,000 vehicles, including petrol cars.
The automaker, whose divisions include Audi, SEAT and Skoda as well as its truck and commercial vehicles, now faces the sizable task of recalling 8.5 million vehicles throughout Europe.
Mueller has promised that the company would submit its recall plans to German authorities by the end of this month. The fixes are to range from simple software update for 2-liter diesel engines, to more complex solutions for 1.6-liter models.
Mueller said VW’s internal inquiry into the scandal was “very complex” and would take many months to complete, though he promised a report on its progress in mid-next month.
“Our main concern is not sales figures or operating results. Our main concern is the credibility and confidence in our brands,” he added.
Volkswagen car sales fell 5.3 percent last month as the pollution cheating storm hit European demand.
Deliveries slipped 1.3 percent in western Europe compared to a year ago, with weakening demand seen in Germany, Spain and Italy.
Global sales were however lifted by its biggest market China, where deliveries rose 1.8 percent to 233,500 cars for the month.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last